How do you stay connected with your professional network?

One of the mistakes I made in the past is to make the profile too broad. It should be reflective of who you are now and what you do. Straightforward, succinct, memorable. The past history and accolades can be buried in the About or similar sections.

Showcase your accomplishments, your wins, and everything you want to brag about. If you can’t brag about yourself, who will???

For me, the key to connection is engagement. Let that speak for you so when your ask comes up, it's an easier yes...or a softer no.

Just sharing links or YT videos is just adding to the overwhelm the audience already feels. Instead summarizing it, providing a counter view (if that's what we truly believe), taking one form and converting it to another for instance a long carousel into a short form video demonstrates value addition.

Your content should definitely add value, not just take up space. It is a good way to demonstrate your expertise and authority. With so much content available out there, it is important to know what your community needs and speak to those needs. Make your content about them, not you.

This is my go-to method to stay in touch. I have high introverted qualities, which means I struggle with conversations and small talks. So to make sure I'm remembered, I post a lot of content on LinkedIn. It would be hard to forget me if you are following me on LinkedIn. Adding value, engaging with others and tagging along on meetups are great ways to build that relationship.

Creating valuable content that sparks conversation in your community is always a great way to connect with your network. I recommend using different styles- text, video, carousels to capture different types of engagement from your audience based on their communication style.

Sharing content, and my own challenges, successes, failures, has been absolutely the best way to maintain professional connection in my industry. Not only does it highlight what I do in my work it also provides a wonderful opportunity to become better connected in my industry (nonprofit-focused marketing + community). Quality over quantity every day of the week as well. That doesn't always work well with the algorithm gods BUT it does mean that I keep authentic to my zone of genius.

Have the conversations where you want to be visible. It’s about being strategic with your commenting. Know your audience, what circles you want to appear in and how yo relate to them.

One thing I totally avoid is to not click those pre-filled clickable texts. That doesn't really tell the creator on what you really felt. Saying a sentence or two shows you read or watched or listened, internalized the content and now responding with your mind and heart.

Engaging with others puts the 'social' in social media. It is where the connections are made and your community grows. It's your chance to become the person behind your name. Send someone a private message to let them know that something in their content spoke to you. Set up a time to have a virtual coffee chat. Refer business to them or lift them up whenever possible. Do this because it's the right thing to do and watch your own community grow.

I try to leave a 2-3 sentence comment. Many times I end up writing more. My goal helps me ensure I'm contributing thoughtfully.

Engaging with your connections content builds rapport and trust. People actually feel more connected to people that constantly engage with their content, no matter how many followers they have. Always make sure your comments are insightful and standout not generic. I will always appreciate thoughtful comments on my posts

Many industry organizations have local chapters with regular, often monthly meetings. Attending these is a wonderful way to meet people in your industry. If you want to meet more people, go to events alone. Because when we go to events with our friends, we end up spending our time with them, and less time meeting anyone new.

When I first came to Canada, I used events to build relationships quickly. I joined local chapters of my industry associations. I attended Linkedin Local events. I used meetups and Eventbrite to attend multiple events every month. At the events I connected with attendees on Linkedin and continued the relationship. I highly recommend attending events to build relationships.

That value can come in different forms - Connecting two people who may benefit from the relationship - Giving feedback (if you know the person well) on why their post did not resonate and any tips on how to improve - Recommending communities or learning courses that are aligned with what they do

We are human beings. Not human doings. One thing that AI can not replace is human connection. If, however you lead with transactional engagement - reaching out to someone based solely on what they do and not what they are about or who they are, it will not be surprising if this connection dwindles or is ignored. There is only one of you. There is only one of the person you are connecting with. Honor the rarity and beauty of the connection FIRST - then see what happens. When communicating at scale to a group - be personable and demonstrate that you care about the group. Try to dial in on a couple individuals in the audience to break it down to size. If online, engage through the comments with personal touch and true connection.

With the advent of AI, there is this constant pressure to "nurture at scale". I absolutely will not go there. Not when it comes to relationships. Sending a video or audio DM shows that you have taken the time (not getting into deep fake !!) to truly reach out as a human being. If someone has posted something vulnerable or shared a life challenge, reaching out to them privately and asking them how you can help is also a great way to strengthen bonds.

I really love to use the DMs for this purpose. I want to get to know my community personally. It helps me align my content with their needs and honestly, it is just a lot more fun. As humans, we crave connection. Nurturing your online relationships (in a non-spammy way) is a way to do this.

LinkedIn has been a wonderful space to create new relationships, professionally and many have crossed over in my personal life. With remote work it can feel very isolating to be at your desk without someone to connect with so I enjoy the banter of LinkedIn, the ability to message behind the scenes with some of my favourite people and to show I care about their lives.

I think consistency is key. If you go months without posting or celebratring others' accomplshments or helping others, providing valuable insight, responding to others, etc., and then suddenly start doing all of this, motives and self serving intentions become transparent, and not in a good way

We've all heard the phrase "It's not what you know, it's who you know." The truth is, it's who knows you. So make sure to engage on LinkedIn and other platforms with the people you want to know you. Once you've commented on someone's content a few times, they will begin to recognize and get to know you.